3rd December 2018

We are delighted to have acted for Competitive Socialising, the parent company of experiential leisure brand Swingers, on the investment into the company by private investment firm, Cain International.

The deal, which completed last week, provides substantial capital for our client’s expansion with a number of openings targeted for Swingers in North America and the launch of a second Competitive Socialising concept in the UK.

Competitive Socialising was founded in 2014 by Matt Grech-Smith and Jeremy Simmonds. The company’s first venture was the Swingers pop-up, which ran for five months in Shoreditch, London and combined crazy golf with cocktails and street food in an immersive hospitality setting.  Following the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the pop-up, which was sold-out for its entire run, in May 2016 Matt and Jeremy opened an 18,000 sq ft permanent Swingers site in the City of London. Comprising two nine-hole crazy golf courses, five bars and three street food vendors in an English country golf club setting, Swingers City was nominated for Best Experience at the GQ Food and Drink Awards 2018. Swingers West End opened in March 2018, in the former BHS flagship store in Oxford Circus. The 21,000 sq ft English seaside themed venue boasts two nine-hole courses, four bars, four street food vendors and a host of privately bookable spaces.

In 2018, Matt and Jeremy were named in the Sunday Times Maserati 100 game-changing entrepreneurs and in the Daily Telegraph LDC Most Ambitious Business Leaders.

The deal adds to Cain International’s growing portfolio of leisure and lifestyle assets.

Oliver Shipton, Partner in Lee & Thompson’s Corporate Group acted for Competitive Socialising together with Lucy Strauss and Brian McSharry.

Oli said of the deal:

“It was a pleasure working again with long-standing clients Matt and Jeremy, this time as part of a new chapter for Competitive Socialising.  I look forward to seeing their already considerable success continue on the other side of the Atlantic in partnership with Cain International”.